Technologies, issues and policies for sustainable mobility.

August 2007

August 31, 2007

DuPont has acquired the IsoTherming hydroprocessing technology from Process Dynamics. IsoTherming uses a novel hydrodesulfurization reactor system that features lower capital and operating costs while supporting a faster way to produce low-sulfur products, reducing sulfur-based emissions in the process.

According to an evaluation in 2003, an IsoTherming unit used in a pre-treatment position in an ultra low sulfur diesel application could deliver 90-98% of the sulfur removal with only 70-90% of the hydrogen consumption and containing only 15-30% of the total catalyst volume compared to a conventional hydrotreater.

Folha de S. Paulo. Petrobras is postponing the commercial production of its renewable diesel fuel based on the hydrogenation of vegetable oil and mineral oil—H-Bio (earlier post)—due to high soy prices.

A round of climate change talks under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in Austria today with agreement on key elements for an international response to climate change.

Negotiators officially recognized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) indication that global emissions of greenhouse gases need to peak in the next 10 to 15 years and then be reduced to very low levels, well below half of levels in 2000 by mid-century, if concentrations are to be stabilized at safe levels.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released for public comment and independent expert peer review its first external review draft of the new Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen—Health Criteria.

Oxides of nitrogen is one of six principal (criteria) pollutants for which EPA has established national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). The Clean Air Act requires EPA to periodically review the scientific basis for standards by preparing an Integrated Science Assessment (ISA), formerly called an Air Quality Criteria Document (AQCD). The basis for NOx standards was last reviewed in 1996.

Detroit Free Press. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the owner of the CAFE program, estimates that 2007 model year fuel economy in the US will increase to 26.4 mpg US, surpassing the previous high of 26.2 mpg in 1987.

Average new car and light truck CO2 emissions rate. The sharp drop corresponds with the initiation of CAFE. Click to enlarge. Source: Environmental Defense

While the average CO2 emissions rate from new vehicles sold in the US fell 3% from 2004 to 2005, it remained up a net 1.5% since 1990, according to a study by Environmental Defense. The report examines the automakers’ overall carbon burden, reflecting the efficiency of vehicles and the carbon intensity of the fuel they run on, as well as new vehicle sales.

The study, Automakers’ Corporate Carbon Burdens, Update for 1990-2005, found that GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler all saw a net worsening of their fleet-average CO2 emissions, while Toyota and BMW, in spite of rising light truck sales, cut their average per-vehicle CO2 emissions rate—the only automakers in the US to do so. Nissan had the largest increase in its average CO2 emissions rate due to the combined effect of rising truck fraction and declining truck fuel economy.

The government of Mexico City has proposed a wide-ranging “Green Plan” that, among other measures, will seek to better manage traffic flow, improve the emissions quality of the public transportation fleets, and put more emphasis on walking and cycling.

The full Green Plan tackles the future of conservation; restoration of the local ecosystems including a focus on the basins of the Magdalena and Eslava rivers and reforestation and restoration with an average of 3,000 ha and 2.5 million plants per year; green buildings; the establishment of more public spaces and parks; the repair and extension of the water infrastructure, including drainage and treatment; transportation; air quality; energy; and waste and recycling.

Saskatchewan’s oil sands deposit is contained within the Mannville Group of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin which was deposited across B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the US. Click to enlarge.

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the eastern neighbor of Alberta, the locus of the oil sands boom in Canada, held its first public offering of oil sands rights at its 16 Aug sale. Saskatchewan holds oil and gas sales six times a year.

The auction raised about C$38 million in total. Sales of the new oil sands dispositions included six oil sands exploration licenses that attracted C$3.3 million in bonus bids.